Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, welche Motive Konsumenten dazu verleiten, soziale Medien im sogenannten "Web 2.0" aktiv oder passiv zu nutzen. Hierbei liegt das Augenmerk insbesondere auf soziodemographischen und psychologischen Merkmalen der Nutzer. Als zentrales Ergebnis der Arbeit kann herausgestellt werden, dass sich die befragten 188 Personen insgesamt anhand von zwei Dimensionen: Aktivität vs. Passivität und soziale Motivation vs. individuelle Motivation in 5 Gruppen beschreiben lassen. Mithilfe klassischer und neuer Marketing-Instrumente (z.B. Virales Marketing) lassen sich diese Gruppen zielgenau ansprechen.

Titel: Influencer marketing på Instagram: Påverkan på konsumenters attityd och köpintention utifrån trovärdighetsfaktorer, opinionsledarskap, follower/followee-ratio och sympati Nivå: C-uppsats, examensarbete inom företagsekonomi Författare: Madeliene Hedin & Selicia Strindlund Handledare: Jonas Kågström & Martin Ahlenius Examinator: Lars-Johan Åge Datum: 2022 - Maj Syfte: Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om hur influencers trovärdighet påverkar konsumenters köpintention. Mer specifikt undersöks huruvida konsumenters attityd mot influencers påverkas utifrån follower/followee ratio, trovärdighetsfaktorer (trovärdighet, expertis och attraktivitet), opinionsledarskap samt sympati. Metod: Studien är en replikering av tidigare forskning av De Veirman m. fl. (2017) och har sin utgångspunkt i en kvantitativ forskningsdesign med en deduktiv ansats. Data insamlades med hjälp av en webbaserad enkätundersökning som besvarades av 290 respondenter.  Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av denna undersökning påvisade att ett högt följarantal inte nödvändigtvis har en positiv effekt på konsumentens köpintention. Det är dock av vikt att en influencers konto känns äkta genom att inte dölja följare/följer-antal, då denna information har en positiv påverkan på konsumenters attityd mot influencern. Resultatet visar därutöver att en microinfluencer har störst positiv påverkan på konsumentens köpbeteende. Studiens bidrag: Då denna studie konstaterar att microinfluencers har större inverkan på köpbeslut än macroinfluencers är det därav mer effektivt och lönsamt för företag att marknadsföra sig genom microinfluencers.  Förslag till vidare forskning: Då influencer marketing är ett fortsatt växande begrepp som tar allt större plats inom marknadsföring är det väsentligt att forskning inom området fortsätter bedrivas. Denna studie, som är baserad på en kvantitativ metod, besvarar om men inte varför statistiken ser ut som den gör. För att få en djupare förståelse för sambandet mellan den upplevda trovärdigheten och motivationen till köpbeslut hos respondenter är därmed en kvalitativ undersökning att rekommendera. / Title: Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Influence on consumers’ attitude and purchase intention based on credibility factors, opinion leadership, follower/followee-ratio and sympathy Level: Final assignment for bachelor’s degree in business administration Authors: Madeliene Hedin & Selicia Strindlund Supervisors: Jonas Kågström & Martin Ahlenius Examiner: Lars-Johan Åge Date: 2022 - May Aim: The purpose of this research is to contribute knowledge about influencers credibility affects consumers’ purchase intentions. More specificially examine wheter consumers' attitudes towards influencers are influenced on the basis of follower/followee-ratio, credibility factors (trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness), opinion leadership and likeability.  Method: The study is a replication of previous research by De Veirman et al. (2017) and is based on a quantitative approach. Data were collected using a web-based survey answered by 290 respondents.  Result and conclusion: The results of this study showed that a high number of followers does not necessarily have a positive effect on the consumer's purchase intention. However, it is important that an influencer's account is genuine by not hiding information about followers / number of followers, as this information has a positive impact on consumers' attitudes towards the influencer. The results also show that a microinfluencer has the greatest positive impact on consumer buying behavior. Contribution: As this research finds that microinfluencers have a greater impact on consumers purchase intentions than an macroinfluencer, it is therefore also more effective and profitable for companies to market themselves through microinfluencers.  Suggestions for future research: As influencer marketing is a continuing growing concept that is taking up more and more space in marketing, it is essential that research in the area continues to be conducted. This study, which is based on a quantitative method, answers whether but not why the statistics look the way they do. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between the perceived credibility and the motivation for purchasing decisions among respondents, a qualitative survey is therefore recommended.

Companies may need an infusion of capital for a multifold of reasons. The importance of capital needed for innovation applies not only to large companies but also to start-ups. In recent years crowdfunding has evolved and become a common alternative for entrepreneurs to finance their start-up. Research about crowdfunding is still in its infancy, and few articles about crowdfunding has yet been published. The purpose of this paper is to examine how social media influences crowdfunding as a communication and marketing channel. The paper is based on a quantitative research strategy, with data regarding 156 campaigns, featured on Kickstarter.com. The outcome of this paper shows that many campaigns used social media to market the campaign. On the contrary not all campaigns used all examined social media. Some social media were more commonly used than other, such as Facebook or Twitter. The outcome of the paper however shows that the number of updates made on the campaigns site does not have any connection regarding the funding level. It can furthermore be other factors that play a crucial role whether or not a campaign reaches its funding goal.

Abstract Social media is a marketing phenomenon that is growing very fast. Social media helps creating value for customers in broadcasting the advertising among social networks. Blog posts, videos, pictures, reviews and ratings all have a significant impact on marketing. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how companies can achieve customer loyalty and customer relationship management using social media marketing and if companies can target new customers by social media. An inductive research approach was used in the study. Semi-structured interviews were performed with interviewees from two companies. A survey questionnaire was answered by 100 social media users which were also customers of the companies. The findings show that there are certain constraints in social media such as risk of user information security when their information can be shared with the companies so that companies can do better marketing research. Word of mouth is spread on social media where new customers are targeted. Social media is providing new channels for support, advertisement and acting as a news feed tool to keep customers up to date about recent events and news. The company stated that no extra resources were required to market on social media.

The purpose of this master's theses is to analyze possibilities utilization of social network in business. The theses is focused on comparison of the most important contemporary social networks in the world and also on looking for thein commercial utilization. Before this, there is the analysis of the situation of internet and clearing of the term internet marketing. In theses, there is emphasis on separation of two main ways of advertising in social networks. First way is making the communities about the companies, products or brands and the second one is advertising by promotional systems of the networks. In the theses, there are a lot of results of many studies, that were performed by key agencies. Also there are many practical examples of business usage of social networks. The theses contains the possibilities of connecting the social networks and other marketing tools like advergaming, affiliate marketing and viral marketing. In the end of the theses, there are case studies, that analyse usage of social medias in four Czech companies from different business departments.

Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera alumners betydelse för ett universitets marknadsföring gentemot presumtiva studenter. Vidare ämnar studien tydliggöra alumners delaktighet i ett universitets varumärkesuppbyggnad. Studiens syfte är även att bidra med ett antal rekommendationer till svenska universitet för hur de på ett gynnsamt sätt kan använda alumner som ett marknadsföringsverktyg till presumtiva studenter. Denna studie baseras på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med utgångspunkt i en induktiv forskningsansats, utifrån ett organisationsperspektiv. Den empiriska insamlingen består av elva semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från fem olika svenska universitet. Resultatet av studien pekar på att alumner kan vara ett resultatinriktat och resurseffektivt marknadsföringsverktyg då ett universitet vill kunna rekrytera fler presumtiva studenter. Studien har även påvisat att alumner både medför möjligheter och utmaningar gällande universitetets varumärke, då det krävs tydliga interna strategier för att alumner på ett gynnsamt sätt ska kunna agera i enlighet med universitetets varumärkesuppbyggnad. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the importance of alumni for a university's marketing towards prospective students. Furthermore, the study intends to clarify the participation of alumni in a university's branding. The aim of the study is also to contribute with a number of recommendations to Swedish universities for how they can use alumni as a marketing tool for suspected students. Research Questions: - How can a university use alumni within its marketing to recruit more students? - What opportunities and challenges do alumni bring to a university’s brand? Method: This study is based on a qualitative research method with mainly an inductive approach, from a managerial point of view. The empirical data is based on eleven semi structured interviews with respondents from five different universities in Sweden. Conclusion: The result of this study indicates that alumni can be a result-oriented and resourceefficient marketing tool when a university wants to recruit more prospective students. The study has also shown that alumni both provide opportunities and challenges regarding the university's brand, since clear internal strategies are required for alumni to act in a favorable manner in accordance with the university's branding.

Background: Through digitalization, it has now allowed people to be more linked through different social media platforms and has led to an increase in the use of these platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Compared to other social media, Instagram has the highest level of involvement through time spent on the app. Influencer marketing has increased with the numbers 325% in Google searches within the year 2017. Companies use influencer marketing as a tool where the firm is collaborating with influencers. Next year, approximately two-thirds of the marketing departments will increase their budget for influencer marketing, so the trend will probably continue in the future.   Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to increase knowledge and understanding about the relationship influencers and followers have with each other and the effects an influencers Instagram profile has on credibility. The authors in the introduction give an insight into the background of current research and information about social media, most specifically Instagram but also about influencers with regards to the credibility of their Instagram profiles. After a gap in the literature was identified, the authors then go on to formulate a research question which is used to guide the direction of the study.   Method: The research method used to answer this question was qualitative, as the authors deemed it to be most suitable for this type of study. After conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 individuals belonging to the millennial generation cohort, who had Instagram and more importantly followed influencers, interesting perspectives around the effect's sponsorship posts had on influencer credibility in the eyes of the followers, were discovered. The results gathered from the interviews were later compared with Ohanian's model of source credibility and Hovland’s model of attribution of credibility, gathered from the frame of reference. The findings from the data collection and analysis were later used to answer the research question.   Conclusion: The influencer-follower relationship has a greater impact on an influencer’s credibility, than what research had portrayed in the existing literature. The strength of the influencer-follower relationship has an impact on whether an influencers Instagram profile is seen as credible or not. The way in which an influencer presents a sponsorship or collaboration on their Instagram profile, had the greatest effect regarding the influencer’s credibility.

Aim: The aim of this study is to explore small enterprises’ marketing strategy and the digital tools that can improve their odds in the market against competitors and gain competitive advantage. Method: Qualitative study was conducted using primary and secondary data for this study, where primary data was collected through ten semi-structured interviews. An inductive approach was used to complete this study. The sample taken was seven small hotels and ten respondents who own and manage the hotels. Result & Conclusion: Findings of this study show that digital marketing tools demand fewer resources such as marketing expenses, number of employees, and make marketing activities simpler for the managers of small enterprises. As a result of digitalization, small enterprises are able to implement the marketing mix (4Ps), although their primary focus is price followed by providing customized product/service that fits the customers’ needs to gain competitive advantage. Suggestion for future studies: We found in our study that one hotel did not use social media at all, and it would be interesting to know if there are more enterprises that do not use it as well. Therefore, in future studies, a larger sample would produce more data about the use of social media by small enterprises. Additionally, this study was conducted in a developed country context and further research would be beneficial to emerging-market countries if it is conducted in their context. Finally, a deeper investigation of marketing strategy between different sizes of micro and small enterprises can provide greater knowledge about how they operate. Contribution of the thesis: This study has contributed to small enterprises’ marketing strategy, which shows that they focus on customer preferences rather than what their competitors offer. It also contributes to SMEs’ digital marketing where digitalizing an enterprise’s marketing activities decreases costs and increases dynamic capabilities to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. Moreover, this study provides new thoughts about the marketing mix for SMEs, which includes that cost leadership strategy is mostly used, hence, making them the price followers. In other words, they set their prices based on their competitors.

Background: Consumers have created resistance towards marketing which can be seen for example as cynicism and criticism towards advertisements. Consequently, marketers do not achieve the aimed effect to consumers as easily as earlier. Authentic advertisement is said to be a tool to surpass the consumers’ resistance. Additionally, authenticity is argued to be the cornerstone of modern marketing and influencer marketing is said to be an appropriate channel fostering this. Aim: With this thesis the aim is to research how this the perceived authenticity of consumers affect on the engagement in Instagram to influencer marketers’ postings. Also, to determine and identify the consumers’ perception of authenticity in influencer marketing, especially in Instagram postings. Additionally, the aim is to identify what is the significance of consumers’ perceived authenticity to engagement in influencer marketing postings in Instagram. Methodology: A qualitative explorative research including an influencer interview, focus group interview with five Instagram users and observational study to three Instagram influencers. Findings: Consumers’ perceived authenticity have a positive significance to engagement in influencer marketing in Instagram. However, causes of engagement are relatively ambiguous, and the engagement in influencers’ postings is influenced by other aspects as well than consumers’ perceived authenticity.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of social media marketing activities on customer equity and how that drive affects purchase intention in the context of the hotel industry with the perspective of Y-Generation. Design/methodology/approach: An explanatory, deductive, quantitative research approach and cross-sectional research design were utilized within this research, where self-completed questionnaires were distributed online with a number of 136 valid responses collected. Findings: The research found that social media marketing activities positively affected customer equity in the context of hotel industry. Brand equity and relationship equity had positive influence on customer’s purchase intention. Finally, information richness negatively moderated the relationship between social media marketing activities and purchase intention. Research implications/limitations: The main implication of this research is social media marketing activities should be utilized as an effective marketing strategy to enhance customer equity. In addition, for hotel managers, creating emotional tie with brands and building bond with customers are supposed to take priority. The main limitation of this research is the language barriers and the research is considered not to be generalized since most respondents are students. Future research: Further research could investigate how social media marketing activities influence other industries and also investigate other different consumer groups such as X-Generation. Sociodemographic variables such as gender, income, backgrounds could be used as moderators in future. Cultural difference is  interesting to go depth regarding to this topic.